Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons with an imaging camera and its implications to spectroscopy
physics.ins-det
/ Authors
Wanchun Wei, L. J. Broussard, M. A. Hoffbauer, M. Makela, C. L. Morris, Z. Tang, E. R. Adamek, N. B. Callahan, S. M. Clayton, C. Cude-Woods
and 22 more authors
S. Currie, E. B. Dees, X. Ding, P. Geltenbort, K. P. Hickerson, A. T. Holley, T. M. Ito, K. K. Leung, C. -Y. Liu, D. J. Morley, Jose D. Ortiz, R. W. Pattie,, J. C. Ramsey, A. Saunders, S. J. Seestrom, E. I. Sharapov, S. K. Sjue, J. Wexler, T. L. Womack, A. R. Young, B. A. Zeck, Zhehui Wang
/ Abstract
Position-sensitive detection of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) is demonstrated using an imaging charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. A spatial resolution less than 15 $μ$m has been achieved, which is equivalent to an UCN energy resolution below 2 pico-electron-volts through the relation $δE = m_0g δx$. Here, the symbols $δE$, $δx$, $m_0$ and $g$ are the energy resolution, the spatial resolution, the neutron rest mass and the gravitational acceleration, respectively. A multilayer surface convertor described previously is used to capture UCNs and then emits visible light for CCD imaging. Particle identification and noise rejection are discussed through the use of light intensity profile analysis. This method allows different types of UCN spectroscopy and other applications.